The earth did in fact move this week in Kirkland Lake as three earthquakes just southwest of town shook the town.

Natural Resources Canada has a seismic measuring station north of Kirkland Lake that recorded the earthquakes. The first happened at 7:58 p. m. Monday and registered 3.4 on the Richter Scale, the second occurred at 8:10 p. m. and registered 2.0 and third took place at 8:21 registering 1.7

Natural Resources Canada equipment is not able to determine the exact locations of the earthquakes and in this case has a plus or minus accuracy of five kilometers. NRC estimates the earthquakes took place two kilo-metres southwest of Kirkland Lake.

While more data would have to be studied to determine how deep the seismic events were NRC seismologist Janet Drysdale said with the data they have studied it is probable the seismic events were five kilometers or deeper.

While not everyone in Kirkland Lake felt the two later earthquakes, the first one caused a great deal of concern. Many people left their homes to inspect the outside, while others hopped in their cars to see if they could find what had caused the noise and houses to shake.

The Kirkland Lake OPP also patrolled the town's streets so they could determine that there were no explosions in town. OPP Const. Emile Lamothe said they contacted Macassa Mine to determine there was no emergency at the mine.

Drysdale said Kirkland Lake is no more likely to have an earthquake than most of the Upper Ottawa Valley and the town is located in what is considered a moderate earthquake area. If you travel north to Cochrane or to South Timiskaming the likelihood of earthquakes increases.

According to information provided by NRC there have been 11 earthquakes in Northern Ontario in last 30 days. Of these the only one is recorded as being felt on surface, which was the first one Monday night just southwest of Kirkland Lake.